Code Geass: A New Beginning, A New Battlefield
by TGxSTep
Summary: The long war for freedom have finally ended. Lelouch decided to sleep in cyrogenic sleep. But is it really the end? Crossover with Gundam Seed.
1. Prologue

**Code Geass: A New Beginning, A New Battlefield**

--

**Prologue: The end of the 'Path of Carnage'**

--

Finally the war for the liberation of Japan has ended. The Emperor of Britannia was 'Killed in Action' due to Zero's strategy, whose true identities was finally revealed to his 'Order of Black Knights' but still hidden from the rest of the world. The war to liberate Japan was spread throughout Asia first and later to Europe as the whole world were forced into action to fight with Britannia when Emperor of Britannia show up with his hidden weapon, the 'Sword of Akasha'. The history regarding the weapon itself was erased due to the danger of fearing the weapon unleashed once again but 'Zero' was able to disable the weapon from ever functioning again and he sealed what remained of it.

After the war, Zero was finally able to begin an era of peace where each area previously oppressed under Britannia's rule was freed and created a union of nations to prevent themselves from being attacked by other super-powers. He decided to erase his identity as Zero and wanted to finally rest in peace. However, he had lost all his precious people and the only thing that had pushed him so far was iron will and desire to create a world where the weak will never again be oppressed by the strong, a world where peace will reigns for a long time.

He had lost Euphie due to his own stupidity when he had to kill her himself; Shirley, a friend who love him till her death was killed by Rollo, a Geass user who was obsessed to be his brother; Nunnaly when she killed herself to prevent from being used to fight against her brother by the Emperor of Britannia; CC. when she request him to kill her as she was tired of continue living as an immortal; And in the end Kallen, the one who he finally realized that he love was also killed when she took a shot with her body when she protect him from being shot by Suzaku. He killed Suzaku without regret after that in his rage.

Every people who ever loved him in someways was killed either by himself or his enemies. He wondered if that was all because he is the bearer of Geass, the power of Kings who will walk a lonely path. He was tired... he was no longer able to sleep due to all the nightmares haunting him due to all the deeds he did to end his father's empire. When he heard in passing that mentioned things regarding cyrogenic sleep he decided that perhaps it could help him. He could finally rest as the world is at peace and a bearer of the cursed power like him is no longer needed. There's no more promises that he needed to keep and killing himself was a cowards way out. He told the rest of the 'Order' of his decision.

The Cyrogenic technology has advanced much further as it was used to preserve important perishables for a long time and he had heard some nation leader who preserved them-self to show off their body even after death in the museum. Rarely a healthy living person decided to sleep in a cyrogenic capsule for hundreds of years but how could they refuse the request of their leader, the one who had sacrificed everything and continue leading them to end Britannia's rule even after losing who he was fighting for. The project was finished within a month where the best cyrogenic capsule customized further by Professor Rakhshata, the scientist who created Gurren Nishiki, dedicated to create the best one that she could make for her country's savior. The capsule was powered by highly compressed Sakuradite batteries which will held out for hundreds of years. Combined with rechargeable solar power, it will held indefinitely and the capsule was also protected with the best armor and plasma shields ever created to protect itself against anything that could happen in space. Lelouch's final request for the capsule to be launched with him into space was strange but with the technology available to her, it was not a problem for a genius like her.

When he finally slept within the cyrogenic capsule, all of the remaining original member of the 'Order of Black Knights' was there to see him for the last time as the capsule was launched into space. Lelouch was forgotten in time however 'Zero' of the 'Order of Black Knights' was etched in history as a legend who had freed the many nations from a tyrannical Empire. The world was divided into many nations where each countries kept their neighbouring countries in check to prevent one country from gaining too much power, the scenario that Lelouch created to maintain peace and balance of power as long as he could.

Hundreds of years had passed. Cosmic Era 71, Humanity has finally begun to expand to space due to overpopulation to start colonization projects. One day, a human who is believed to be the first one who reached jupiter released a secret that became a catalist which divided the human race into two, Naturals and Coordinators. The Naturals believed that coordinators were 'cheating' as everything they did came easily where they had to work hard to develop their talent while the coordinators believed that they were oppressed by their 'peers' and decided to create a place for their own. Triggered by the tragedy of 'Bloody Valentine' in Cosmic Era 70, the tension between Earth and Plant immediately developed into full military engagements.

However, this story is not about a young man who will become a pilot in his Gundam but of a man long forgotten who was sleeping in his cyrogenic capsule.

--

**End Prologue**

--

Author's Rant: So... What do you guys think? I hope I made it believable. I'll admit that this idea has been floating around in my mind for a while when I was watching Code Geass and when I was re-watching Gundam Seed, I began to think 'Man! if there's Lelouch there taking control of the situation that would probably be so cool'. Anyway, it's kinda sad that Lelouch was left with no one to love but I could imagine that really happened in Code Geass where lots of good characters dies. Please leave a comment to tell me what you guys think. Any constructive criticism is appreciated.

26/07/08


	2. Chapter 01

**Code Geass: A New Beginning, A New Battlefield**

--

**Chapter 01: The Day the Devil Awakens**

--

Dreams...

Memories long forgotten...

Happier times when his mother and Nunnaly was still alive... A time when he was still innocent...

Dreams...

Memories long forsaken...

Happier times of being Lelouch Lamperouge... A mask he worn as his shield to the world...

Dreams...

Memories stained in blood...

Times of where he became Zero... A mask he donned as the leader of the 'Order of Black Knights'... A time when he killed many to create a world where the strong would not crush the weak...

Dreams...

Memories of regret...

Of what could have been if his loved ones are still alive with him... Of the deeds that was done in his moment of weakness... Of what he could have done better... Of still being weak even after all he had sacrificed to protect his loved ones...

Dreams...

Dreams...

Dreams...

Dreams...

It became an endless cycle in of torment in his mind...

However it all came to an end as he slowly regains consciousness...

--

"His condition is stable. Everything is within acceptable parameters. It's hard to believe that someone could create something that he was sleeping in. We believe that the Cyrogenic capsule the patient is sleeping in was created several hundred years in the past, more exactly within the period of time where the 'Zero Revolution' happened. To think that a piece of technology from that time still survived after all this time..." A man in a white lab coat spoke to another person sitting near a hospital bed.

"Yes, it should make the R&D Section working overtime for quite some time to analyze the technology used to create something that advanced. There was nothing remained from that time because the weapons used in that war was destroyed by Zero to prevent them from being used again. There were rumors such as he did it to conquer Earth but in the end he disappeared and became a legend that he would appear again when the weak is oppressed by the strong but it was just that, rumors." The man in black coat suit chuckled to himself thinking of someone that stupid that would fear a faceless figure who is long gone.

"Eh, after hundreds of years most of the records from that time were gone but even then Zero's existance was mentioned many times as someone who held a pivotal role during that time. It's too bad that the period of peace has ended. The war between Earth and PLANT has been escalating ever since that 'Bloody Valentine' tragedy..."

"Yeah...", The man in black coat nodded. "Anyway, I need to leave soon. It's my daughter's birthday today and I promised her a dinner in some fancy restaurant and to take her shopping after that." He grimaced.

"I know what you feel... I also have a daughter after all... Don't worry. I'll call you when there's any changes to our patient's condition. Now that you mention it I think it's time for dinner. See you tomorrow!" Then they left the room leaving the patient they're monitoring by himself.

After listening the sound of footsteps until it was not heard anymore Lelouch blinked his eye.

'So... from the conversation just now I could say that they're perhaps researcher or doctors. Did I somehow crashed back on Earth after all this time? Hundreds of years had passed huh... I guess I should be proud that they still mentioned my Zero persona after all this time but knowing what I did I couldn't be happy at all... Everyone that I knew of is already dead... Why did fate became so cruel to awaken me after all this time... I just wanted to sleep... At least I'm not some lab rat and they only decided to analyze my 'cyrogenic capsule'. At the very least I could get out of this situation with my geass... MY GEASS!'

'Damn! I could see through my left eye. Did they remove my eyepatch? Hmm.. I hope they just thought that my left eye just had unique colour and end it at that.' Lelouch thought as he had decided to seal his left eye with an eyepatch after the eye contacts given by C.C. is not enough to stop the influence from his permanent geass. Memories of Euphemia caused his left eye to ache again.

'Wait a minute... war? Between Earth and PLANT? Where is PLANT? What is the cause of the war? Damn it! Will war start again after all this time I ended them? Hundreds of years have passed so there's too many things have happened that I didn't know but if a war is being waged then I need to find out what is going on.'

--

A month had passed ever since the ex-leader of 'Order of the Black Knight' regained his consciousness and he was surprised to find out how much have changed ever since his 'sleep'. The two person who monitored him have asked many questions to find out more about him. He decided to introduce himself as 'Lelouch Lamperouge', an identity long lost that was created after he was cast out by his father. It's not as if he could be connected to his more infamous identity as 'Zero' and son of the ex-emperor of empire long forgotten.

During the time of his recovery, Lelouch spent his time to 'ask' for his benefactor for an identity he could use during his stay in Heliopolis, a colony in space that is actually a part of a small neutral nation on earth, Orb. A country he had never heard of before, however was created with an ideal he agrees with. After that he went to seek more information regarding the world he is in an what have been going on after he had left earth long times ago. The technology that were used in the present is heading to a war where humanoid robots were being used as war instrument. Before he had left he had made a treaty and have erased most of the advanced technology involving the Knightmare Frames and other advanced weapons that haven't been destroyed yet during the massacre by the 'Sword of Akasha'.

The scenario he created before he left is ideal for keeping each nations in check and only something unexpected could tip the balance he had created in the past. It was only natural for that to happen as he knew that there's nothing eternal other that humanity's stupidity. He realized that after he researched the history that led to the war between Earth and Plant was caused by the foolishness of one man. However he suspected that there's more going on that actually triggered the war. Killing hundreds of thousands people is an unforgivable massacre and he could understand why PLANT was enraged by the tragedy. To think something like Nuclear weapons was created...

After finding out the history between Earth and PLANT, Lelouch then researched the technology that is available to public and technology that is currently used in warfare. After all, if 'Zero' is going to re-appear, then he needs to study space warfare. What he could find out is with their mobile suits that Z.A.F.T. currently held technology superiority over Earth but if what he had found during his 'unofficial questioning' it would no longer be true with how Orb is helping them develop the new generation mobile suits and the Archangel in this colony. He suspects that if Z.A.F.T. finds out what he knew then it would be very bad for Heliopolis. He hoped that at the very least ZAFT won't involve civilians in their war but as he already learned in his past, it was a slim hope at best.

It seems that he need to involve himself in the war if he want to end it permanently. It's a good thing that he had secured an identity and registered himself as a crew in Archangel, the secret battleship that Earth Federation have built here with the help of his Geass. He had ensured that the crews won't question him being there and he was also very low in rank that he wont be missed if he was 'gone' for a while. He can't be 'Zero' but for now he need to learn more and adjust into the society he was thrown into. At least equality exists in this colony he is living in. Some of the Coordinators he had met was extraordinary but overall they are still very human, will all the weakness of one. Only he realized that Coordinators had better potential for learning aptitude and physical condition. Therefore, they could still be defeated, maybe imagining that coordinators were have piloting skills on a level similar to Suzaku or Kallen? That is not a very comforting thought...

What is important is the fact that Geass could still be used on others and it seems his permanent Geass have been strengthened during his sleep. Something that he thought won't happen after C.C.'s death... Even after all this time he still missed her... He is all alone in this different world but like he did when he first was cast out to Japan, he adapts.

--

Days after days were spent in the library to research and did his 'part time' work to earn his income and to work his access to the military. A brief moment of warmth he got from the brief fling with a female who is working in the G-Weapon project when she was intoxicated by alcohol is also a bonus. He didn't realize that she would be so forceful when she was drunk. He only met her with the intention of questioning her regarding the secret project she was working on but when she was unconscious after drinking too much, he decided to take her to his home as a gentleman who couldn't bear the possibilities of someone taking advantage of a woman when she was drunk like she was then.

Used to let C.C. slept naked on his bed, he leaves to sleep on the couch but the woman suddenly pulled his hand and gave him a crushing hug. What happened after that was hazy as he was also still very tired from dragging her from the bar to his small apartment. One that he had rent with the money he got from the researchers when he told them that the least they could do after taking his 'Cyrogenic Capsule' away is by paying him as he had nothing with him. Only the clothes he was wearing and a short note from Rakhshata in the code he had used during his time in the 'Order of Black Knights'. It seemed she had left him something on Earth. Maybe he could pick it up if it's still there after all this time.

The morning after their fling, the woman was freaked and left quickly to return to her duty. At least he found out what he need to know from her when he Geass-ed her. He was sure that she would not realize the short-term memory loss with her hazy memories of what had happened the night before. He never thought that his first sexual encounter would be that unique. He was raped by a drunk woman Lelouch sweatdropped. He could not curse his weak physical strength more as he realized the fact. At least the brown haired woman who raped him is quite beautiful in her own right.

--

**End of Chapter 01**

--

Authors Rant: Hmm... Not so bad if not for the fact that I forgot the details of Gundam Seed's history. I'll need to finish re-watching the show 1st I guess. Tell me what you guys think of this chapter and if there's anything that needed improvement, please don't hesitate to tell me. I want to portray Lelouch as a wiser person because of his experience in his last war but there's still some kinks I still need to work out. Hope it came out close enough. Thx for reading this fic and leave a review if you guys/girls like it.

GenMcvile : Glad you enjoys this fic. 20 years old huh? I could use that as I still haven't decided what age he will be in this fic.

00Styx00 : I agree with you. Not one of my most favourite character but at least he is quite a decent character. However I like Lelouch more. Regarding the discrimination problems, I don't know what I'll do with that yet but I'm still thinking about it.

LittleNK : Glad you thought so, most of the battles in Gundam Seed was fought without in-depth strategies and only used standard ones. I hope I can make the strategies decent and close enough to the anime Lelouch.

Hokushin13 : I couldn't think of a believable way to let Zero into the chain of command so I'll have to make Lelouch take the role of C.C. for now.

MysticMaiden 18 : Glad you think so.

LunaticChaos : Thx for the opinion. Really, I hope I can make it believable and let Lelouch in the action. Hope you'll be interested enough to continue reading then.

Thx to all who have read and spend some of their precious time reviewing this fic.


	3. Chapter 02

**Code Geass: A New Beginning, A New Battlefield**

--

**Chapter 02: End of Heliopolis**

--

He never want it to happen but he realized that it was inevitable. Ever since he found out that Heliopolis was involved in the creation of G-Project and Archangel, sooner or later she would be dragged into war between Earth and PLANT. However, that was what he had been preparing for ever since he knew of it. Lelouch quickly ran to the dock where Archangel is located. Running through the long hallways was draining his stamina but he don't think being trapped in the shelter will help him to achieve his objective.

Taking out his radio he tried to contact Archangel. No signal... no surprise there. It must be jammed seeing that ZAFT had attacked. Seeing his supposed superiors and fellow workers that he had known for a while was dead floating on the hallway had not been easy but it's not something he wasn't used to before so he kept on.

Reaching Archangel, he was able to enter the ship and help with the cleaning up and checking up the ship's condition. Not that he could do anything in the confusion. Against an army with his own loyal troops is one thing but going against mobile suits without one himself is suicide. It's not like the Pilot is going to listen what he is going to go out from their mobile suits so he couldn't Geass any of the ZAFT pilots. Seeing that Archangel is save he concluded that ZAFT's objective is not Archangel herself but the G-Projects. If all the G-Weapons were captured then he would day that they're doomed. With only the essential crew running the ship it can't fight any battle effectively. He would have to salute enemy's commander for his swift action.

Finding out that the famous 'Hawk of Endymion', Muu la Flaga was save and decided to stay in this ship is a nice surprise but he by himself is not enough to go against ZAFT. Archangel is the King in this condition, Muu la Flaga is a Knight, he could be used to defend however it would depend on the number and quality of ZAFT's soldiers. May be the coordinator kid can be used. If he pilots the damn G-weapon then with it's firepower then the minimum condition to defend Archangel is fulfilled. Damn it! He is starting to think like 'Zero' again.

"What am I doing... Do I really want to involve myself in a war that have nothing to do with me. Is there any benefit in stopping the war? There's nobody that I need to save... I have no one I want to protect... When I was just awakened I didn't want to think too much but really... Both ZAFT and Earth Alliance have reasons to start the war..." Lelouch clutched his head.

"CONDITION ALERT! CONDITION ALERT! STATION BATTLE 01! ALL PERSONELS RETURN TO THEIR ASSIGNED POST! ALL PERSONELS RETURN TO THEIR ASSIGNED POST!" Warning alarms were blaring as he heard Archangel starts the engine.

"Darn it!! I'll just lay low for a while. More than half the crew was KIA during initial battle so I'll probably have to help out. I'll just stop by to ask the Captain later"

--

Lelouch was walking to the cafeteria to start working for lunch before he saw someone he never thought will see again on the ship.

"Captain Murrue Ramius huh, I see that you're the captain of this ship. Nice to meet you ma'am." Lelouch half bowed his upper body and almost let himself kiss her left hand, a habit he thought long forgotten.

"YOU!! What are you doing here!!" The brown haired woman's face flushed red as she remembered of what she did with the purple eyed young man in front of her. She never thought that she will meet with the eye patched man again when she just want to forget the whole thing as only a figment of her imagination.

"Yes?" Lelouch replied calmly as he raised his right eyebrow as he saw the woman's reaction as she remembered him. "Have we met before ma'am?" He tilted his head as he wanted to see her reaction if he pretended that he never saw her before. He still remembered as she left without saying thanks before she left when he spent his limited energy to drag her to his apartment.

"YOU!! YOU!! How could you forget!! You took advantage of me that night when I was drunk!!" She became angered as she remembers the conclusion she came to when she was confused how she awakened that unforgettable morning while still hungover.

"Really now... You think so lowly of me that I'll take advantage of a drunk woman ma'am? Perhaps you're mistaking me for someone." Lelouch curled his lips while a little amused as he remembered the night where his first time was stolen by a drunk woman. Curse his weak constitution.

"I still remembered your face! If you didn't take advantage of me how did I awakened naked and sore all over!!" When she realized what she just said her flushed face became redder than a ripened tomato.

"Ah..." Lelouch's face started to flush as he was reminded of what happened that night. "I think you're still mistaken ma'am. Did you see any sign of love bite or bruise over your own body?" He willed himself to be calm. 'I was Zero! The one who brought revolution! I won't be ashamed of being raped by a woman! NO wait! Damn it all! I used up my geass on her so it couldn't be used again on the same person.'

"N-n-no... That doesn't mean anything! You still took advantage of me! I can punish you now that you're working under me!" Murrue replied.

"I have it you know... All over my body. Furthermore you were on top. Guess again?" Lelouch said confidently to his captain still amused by her attempt to scare him by trying to punish him for something that she accused him of.

"Y-y-you're lying!" She replied nervously.

"Really now... do I have to take off my cloth again? I don't want to get taken advantage off by my superior again." He replied pretending to be nervous in front of her. 'Check'

"Wh-wha?!"

"Here I'll just show you one of them," Lelouch pulled the sleeve over his left shoulder and she could she sign of a bite mark there. "I tried to remove them but it seemed that your bite is quite deep. I had to wash off my bed cover from my own blood because I was bitten by a drunk woman who raped me on my own bed. Do you really think that trying to punish me is wise ma'am?" He said while sporting a sardonic grin remembering how pathetic it was.

"I-I-I..." She was speechless after some of the hazy memory of that night was cleared.

"Anyway, I'll be working under you for a while so if you let me do whatever I want and I'll agree to not disturb your job then I'll keep quiet about the whole matter. Deal?" Lelouch smiled. 'Checkmate' Lelouch smirked in his mind. 'Never thought that night would be that helpful' He thought.

"F-Fine"

Beep

"Captain! Are you there? The enemy is approaching! Please return to the bridge!" A voice was heard from the communicator she was carrying.

"Looks like you'll be busy. I'm working in the cafeteria as one of the chefs. Seek me out if you have any problems, we're not stranger after all." Lelouch smirked to his captain.

"O-okay..." She replied nervously to the black haired man that is still smirking at her. "Murrue here, I'll be right there" She spoke to the communicator she was holding.

--

The battle was a short one as Kira Yamato and Muu la Flaga was successful in routing the enemies that are tailing them on their path to Artemis, a fortress with high defensive capabilities. Their strategy was not too shabby though, it's what he would do in the same condition however it shows that those two pilots were really extraordinary. He suspected that with him leading them in case of an emergency then there will be be a path to victory. Not that he had a reason to fight though. As long everything was going on fine and there's no disturbance then they could take a break and resupply soon.

--

They were made hostage by their own supposed ally. What a foolish thing to do. It's quite lucky that ZAFT had attacked them at that time as his patience of dealing with the soldiers guarding them is getting thin. The little girl that was talking to him was starting to cry and he almost had to Geass the guards to leave them alone if not for the sudden attack on Artemis. They met a fitting end for betraying their own ally.

--

"Kira Yamato isn't it? Nice to meet you. My name is Lelouch Lamperouge" Lelouch introduced himself to the young man sitting alone on one of the cafeteria chairs.

"Can I help you Lelouch-san?" Kira turns his head to look at the stranger standing beside him.

"So... You're a coordinator right? I've met some of the coordinators during my stay in Heliopolis. They are nice fellows. It's too bad that Heliopolis was destroyed in the battle with ZAFT."

"Yes I am. I'm sorry... I couldn't protect Heliopolis..." Kira said still feeling regret that he couldn't protect his home for a long time that had been destroyed.

"Don't think too much about it. What had happened can't be changed. Heliopolis is no more and that can't be helped. If you felt guilty then what is important is what you could do to prevent the same thing from happening. Isn't that right?" Lelouch said as he remembered what he had told himself the same thing many times after one of his mistakes.

"Ye-yes... thank you."

"No.. thank you Kira, I'm only a cook and I can't do anything to help you so the most I could do is to talk to you when you're feeling down. Come down anytime when you're free and I'll see what I can prepare for you." Lelouch smiled with one of his rare honest expression at the boy sitting down in front of him. After all, he don't want the 'queen' that is protecting this ship to be depressed.

--

"You can come in you know" Lelouch said directing his voice to the person standing behind the right wall of the entrance to the cafeteria.

"I didn't know you could make such a speech" Murrue spoke after she saw Kira left.

Lelouch shrugged. "I just have to you know. He was feeling depressed after each fight with his fellow coordinators. You realized the same thing didn't you? He is fighting to protect all of us and if I were the first one who really appreciate him then it's really strange isn't it?"

Murrue was speechless hearing the purple eyed cook that had just surprised her yet again.

"Coordinators maybe had their genetic changed, however, in the end they are as human as you and I as they also have emotions. It's foolish to hate them for being who they are." He continued.

"..." She was silently listening to the speech that struck a chord in her mind.

"Natural... and coordinators... It's a pity that humanity is divided just because of some difference in gene. Furthermore to start a war just because of it." Lelouch shook his head. "Sorry... I guess I was just taking my contempt to this stupid war out on you."

"Lelouch... I also understand your feeling. But coordinators also continue on attacking us and if we military didn't protect Earth then who will protect them? Why are you in the military then?"

"Me?" Lelouch gave her a sardonic grin. "You really want to know?"

Murrue nodded as she look at the one eyed man in front of her.

"I'm only a cook. There's nothing special with being a cook on a military vessel isn't it?" He replied calmly to the brown haired woman. "Anyway, my break is over. It'll be dinner rush soon. Till then my lady." He half bowed and heads to the kitchen leaving the confused woman behind.

--

**End of Chapter 02**

--

Authors Rant: I made this chapter short as I only want to make Lelouch to leave an influence over the crew of Archangel. However, he won't be involved in any battle himself for a while. It's more of to create a reason for Lelouch to fight. As long there's no reason to fight, then the King won't move. Not that he can do anything yet. He is a poor pilot as you knew from the anime and he did not have to motivation to fight. BTW, please tell me if Lelouch is acting to OOC coz I was having difficulties to portray his character properly.

Tpolich : Hahha! Glad you liked it. I did not think too much on it but as I write it I just let it flow as I thought of the possible funny scenario that could happen to Lelouch. Actually, it won't change much coz I don't think it'll be possible for Lelouch to take control of the battle where he is only one of the unimportant crew and I have no way to put him in charge unless he overuse his Geass which I don't want to happen.

GenMcvile : Her name is Murrue Ramius and you're right that she is the Captain. Regarding Lelouch's Gundam or Knightmare, I have a plan for that but it's still a secret for now. :)

WyldStallyns808 : WHOA! close enough. Just wait till the time for the time the message revealed and you'll find out. I'll have to see whether the pairing will be popular or not. There's still possibilities with other G-Seed Girls.

LittleNK : Actually I am writing this as I take a break from watching the anime so that I didn't miss too many events from G-Seed. I was thinking that with his built that Lelouch was not fitting for regular crew and as you can see I made him a cook as I remembered Lelouch's other talent from the 1st episode of R2. Murrue is a trained military personnel and with her basic training even she could grapple Lelouch to submission easily. lol

MysticMaiden 18 : You guessed it in one.

Thx again to all the readers and reviewers. It's good to some some are interested to continue reading this fic. Till then.


	4. Chapter 03

**Code Geass: A New Beginning, A New Battlefield**

--

**Chapter 03 : Pink Haired Songstress**

--

'Lacus Clyne, daughter of the chairman of PLANT and also a popular idol at PLANT. Some of the songs I've downloaded from the Heliopolis network are nice too. I never thought that I'll see her here. Ah... I see... It had been almost 1 year since the tragedy of 'Bloody Valentine'. Did she lost someone at that incident too and decided to visit the place where Junius Seven was located? But seeing that she didn't seem to bear any hatred during the incident with the Flay girl in the cafeteria, I don't think that's it.' Lelouch thought to himself as he analyze the situation.

'She reminds me of Euphemia... Euphie... why did that have to happen when freedom was so close for the Japanese. Even though in the end I was able to end Britannia's reign, the sacrifice was unbearable... I still have yet to have a peaceful sleep... haven't I suffered enough...? Do you all want me to continue to live to atone my sin to all of you? Nunnaly? Kallen? C.C.? Euphie? Everyone...?'

He shook his head and walked towards the room where he knew Lacus Clyne is staying in not wanting to continue brooding over his past.

--

Lelouch heard a soft voice singing a song when he knocked the metal door and waited for a reply to came from within. A lesson that had been enforced when one day he accidentally walked without knocking into his sister's room when she was changing. Sayoko had looked at him coldly for a while after that incident.

Not even several seconds passed before the singing stop and a voice welcoming him to come in was heard. He obliged and entered the room.

"Nice to meet you Lacus Clyne-san, my name is Lelouch Lamperouge. I want to have a talk with you if you don't mind." Lelouch smiled disarmingly to the pink haired girl.

"Ara-ara, pleased to meet you too Lelouch-sama. You can just call me Lacus. I don't mind, please make yourself comfortable. Haro and me were getting bored just waiting in the room and we're not allowed to walk outside." She smiled back to the black haired man that is talking with her.

"I'll do that." He nodded and pulled a chair and sat on it. "It's understandable actually. You're a coordinator in a military vessel that is being chased by ZAFT. We're also still at war. It could provoke undesirable reaction from the extremists if you walk around freely." He shrugged.

"And you don't mind me being here with me Lelouch-sama?" Lacus replied curiously.

"No, as I said I just want to have a talk with you. Simply said, I'm interested to know what you think of the people who had oppressed your fellow coordinators. You're also in a unique position to understand what the upper echelons thought of the matter since your father is also the Chairman of PLANT." He said calmly.

She tilted her head and answered, "I don't hate naturals. My father also had always refused to further escalate the presently ongoing war. I hope the war will end soon... I don't want the tragedy of 'Bloody Valentine' to be repeated..."

"I see... I'm glad that not all of PLANT hate us naturals. Some of us have tortured and ostracized Coordinators but in the end, they have just yet to accept difference... In the past, war was being waged because of different skin colours, different religions, etc, etc, etc. It's foolish... but sometimes people... either natural or coordinators couldn't accept difference. Someone have to show them the way don't they? Most of the soldiers fight not because of hate but to fight to protect their families and beliefs after all." He said taking the position as a natural as he is working within an Earth Alliance ship and wanting to test her reaction to his words.

"Coordinators also fight because they believed that by fighting they could end this war... However, I truly believes that someday naturals and coordinators could live together in peace again..." Lacus replied softly as she looked straight into his eye.

"Yes... I hope so... If the war continues to drags on then I'll have to end the war myself don't I?" Lelouch said where near the end he said it with a light but confident tone. "I'm just joking. Please don't mind my musings. I'm just a cook and what can one man do to end a war that has been going on for years?" He chuckled as if he was telling a joke that only he understands.

"..." Lacus paused when she heard what Lelouch said before a mechanical voice was heard from beneath her, "Haro! Don't want to believe it! Don't want to believe it!"

"Haro!" Lacus took her pink coloured Haro and hugged the round shaped pink mecha.

"Forget about that. I've heard that you're a popular songstress at PLANT? Can you sign this for me?" Lelouch pulled a small blank white paper and an ballpoint that he kept on his left pocket. Never knew when he might need it after all.

"Ara? You have listened to my songs Lelouch-sama?" Lacus said curiously as she didn't know that 'naturals' have heard of her songs before.

"Yes I have, your voice is quite captivating and I'll have to say that you delivered your feeling through your songs very well. I've became your fan when I first heard your songs." Lelouch used his smile #3, the smile that could convince a foreign diplomats to sign an agreement believing that nothing was wrong when he is actually going to take advantage of them. He is not her fan but he is honest about his opinion about her songs after all. However he still prefers classics. 'I hope some of the remaining classic records during my time still remains. I couldn't find them through Heliopolis network.'

"Ara-ara... I'll just sign here, is it all right?" Lacus asked the eye-patched man.

"Right. Anyway, I have to get going. I hope we could have a talk again sometime soon." Then Lelouch left Lacus to her own device.

--

However, the day after he talked to Lacus, she was used as a hostage when they had to stop ZAFT from annihilating them. A foolish step but one that he understand as well. He often had to fight dirty in the past as well. He was actually relieved that Kira had freed Lacus to her fiance, Athrun Zala, Kira's friend. A fact that he accidentally found out when he overheard Kira and Lacus' conversation near the viewing deck.

He could sympathize with Kira as he had to fight Suzaku many times in the past and each fight brought unbearable grieve to him. He killed Suzaku when Suzaku accidentally killed Kallen as Suzaku tried to kill him. What a mess it was... Even until the end Suzaku never knew the truth of what happened during the incident with Euphemia. He hoped that what happened to him will not happen to Kira but sometimes irony is a bitch, often his best planned strategies and good intentions were ruined in the worst ways as he recalled the disaster with Euphie as one examples from his long list of failures.

After Lacus was freed, they had to fight several battles and when the Archangel crew thought that they were safe, ZAFT attacked again near the orbit and one of the foolish ZAFT pilot shot the shuttle filled with civilians in the heat of the battle. Lelouch clenched his fist at that. The little girl who often stopped to play at the cafeteria to talk with him was on that shuttle. It actually hurts... He thought that his feeling had numbed from losing all his loved ones but it seems he could still care for others. Kira also had to be resting in the infirmary for a while after the rushed entry to Earth where he is suffering from a fever.

--

A day after landing on Earth, current location: Somewhere in North Africa, ZAFT Territory.

"Kira! are you all right?" Lelouch called just right as he entered the infirmary and seeing the Flay girl is helping Kira to eat. "Flay here told me that you have awakened and ask me to prepare a special food for you." Then Lelouch grin lightly when he saw Flay continue to spoon-feeding Kira, "I never thought that you're already that far with her Kira", he pointed his thumb to Flay.

Kira choked on his food and he blushed but quickly replied, "It's not like that Lelouch. Flay is just helping me as I still can't feed myself."

"Oh? really?" Lelouch raised his right eyebrow slightly. "Anyway, I've come here to check you out whether you can digest the food I've prepared properly but it seems that there is no problem. How are you feeling Kira?"

"I'm fine... The doctor said that I can leave this infirmary tomorrow." Kira replied as he tried to look all right while his eye was still filled with grief and Lelouch could also recognize a sign that he had cried not too long ago.

"I see... Come to the cafeteria anytime to find me after you've healed. Meanwhile I'll continue on preparing healthier meal for you till you recover. I'll be going now." Then he look at Flay, "Flay, I'm glad that you are looking after Kira here. Take care of him for me too." He left after the parting word.

--

'She has an ulterior motive' Lelouch thought to himself. 'Not even a while ago she hate coordinators with passion and now she is acting all chummy with Kira. I'll wait until she reveals her motive. She had became an emotional support that I couldn't be for Kira and if I separate her unnecessarily then Kira could broke down in his present mental state. He is depressed somehow and if something happened then I'll just have to Geass her to find out what she is thinking or to change her mind. Yes, I think I'll do just that when the need came.' Lelouch decided in his mind.

--

**End of Chapter 03**

--

Authors Rant : Tell me what you guys think of me making Lelouch put his personal touch to the G-Seed cast. I want to expand it for a bit to lay foundation for Lelouch's future actions. BTW, Since some have asked, Lelouch is 20 (500+ if added with his long sleep) and Murrue is 26 in this fic. I made that by the end of R2 Lelouch will be 19 and he needed to smooth out the scenario he made to ensure world peace which took around one year. As for Murrue, I don't plan to make her as the main pairing actually, there are no main pairing until later chapter as I am still testing out the ideas with other G-Seed cast.

LittleNK : Really? It's nice to find that you enjoyed it. I just thought to make a sarcastic comment by Lelouch but whatever goes. :P

Himig : Yep I thought I rushed a bit to last chapter and did not re-read it thoroughly enough. Thank you for pointing it out. It'll all be cleared up soon enough as the story goes. And no he won't be a king as Lelouch is not interested to be in this fic.

Himig : Can you explain what random fandom is? sorry for disappointing but I guess my writing is not good enough. Thx for reading this anyway.

MysticMaiden 18 : Whoa! You guessed it. Imagine Lelouch as someone that has been emotionally drained from his nightmares and wanted to end it all but had sworn to live because of his sister. That's one I'm aiming for.

WyldStallyns808 : XD! You read my mind! As for finding out, the truth will be known when the time is right. It'll be more exciting that way.

Thx to all who have read and spend some of their precious time reviewing this fic. lol


	5. Chapter 04

**Code Geass: A New Beginning, A New Battlefield**

--

**Chapter 04 : Reminiscence**

--

A Rebellion...

Reflections of memories long past yet not forgotten...

Memories of individuals that seemed so close yet unreachable...

People that only wanted to achieve freedom without any other influence and interference in their own land...

Uncountable powerless people around the world were suffering from economic crisis due to war and Earth Alliance continues to drain more resources from their citizens to continue their war against ZAFT just to further their own ambition...

Were the situation this bad on Earth's surface after the scenario he created hundreds of years ago expired in its effectiveness...

Was eternal peace to humanity is just a vain dream...?

--

"Hey there" Lelouch greet the brown haired boy who was standing around under the shadow of a dried up tree.

"Yeah? Who are you and what are you doing here?" The dark skinned boy asked as he looks suspiciously at the eye-patched man.

"I'm Lelouch, a cook on that Archangel there, What's your name?" Lelouch made himself comfortable to sit under the shadow. It was unbearably hot in the desert and he was still not used to the climate.

The boy looked curiously at the man and answered promptly, "Ahmed. You're really a cook?"

"Right, I can cook decently but my specialty is western food. How about you? what are you doing here with the rebellion? You don't have to tell me of course... I'm curious to see one as young as you working with the rebels" Lelouch asked as he look at Ahmed.

Ahmed was silent for a while before he decided to answer the strange cook, "My younger sister... She was suffering from a disease but we couldn't get any medicine for her treatment and ZAFTs refused to treat her... I had to steal some medicine for her but unfortunately I was caught by THEM... One day I was saved by the rebels but it was already too late for her... I worked with the rebellion to get the chance for revenge..." Ahmed ended ominously.

"I don't think revenge is a healthy reason to fight but who am I to preach? You know... I had a younger sister too... She was a very important person to me... and will always be..."

"Wha-what happened to her?" Ahmed said shakily.

Lelouch smiled sadly and answered, "She is no longer among the living... However... her parting words was telling me to stay alive and to take care of myself..."

"You had an amazing person as sister Lelouch..." Ahmed said finally after a brief pause.

"I believe that your sister would have said similar words to what my sister had said to me... Live your live to the fullest. Not to live for revenge... I've walked that path and it was not pretty. Fight to protect those dear to you that are still alive..."

"Ah.. I'll be returning to Archangel now. Think of what I have said and take care of yourself Ahmed." Lelouch left the boy to mull over his thoughts.

--

'Hmm.. First I was a rebel leader and now I am a cook plus preacher huh.' Lelouch chuckled to himself. But seeing the boy with eyes who reminded him of himself, he couldn't help but to have a conversation with the young man. He couldn't address someone who had lost someone dear to him at such a young age as boy after all.

--

"Murrue! what happened?" Lelouch stopped Murrue who ran passed him on her way toward bridge.

"Tassil! Hometown of the rebels is being attacked! The rebels went to chase after the troops who did it. I have to return to the bridge to confirm the situation." She replied hurriedly and quickly continued to rush toward the bridge.

"Attacked? Why...? For helping Archangel last night? Is that it? And they attacked a town without defenders for that?!" Lelouch grits his teeth and slowly turned and left the hallway.

--

Lelouch arrived in the base camp of the rebels after a short jog and opened his left eye-patch.

"You will let me pass, nobody has came through and continue your duty as usual." He commanded the two guards who were guarding the empty rebel camp with his geass. The two guards were enthralled for a second before they continue what they were doing minutes ago.

"With the rebels present firepower, without any strategies they would all be totally annihilated... I can't let that happen... I'll help them just this once..." Lelouch said recalling the time he led his own army of rebels, the 'Order of Black Knights'.

'Maps... Land shapes and heights were marked added with additional usable information. Surveying the location of the map and analyzing the direction the ZAFT troops that is moving through to return to their HQ... there... Coordinates X32-Y35.'

Then he acquired the latest satellite photo shots of the coordinate with the help of the laptop he accessed.

'They had took all their vehicles and when they left and they should have grenade-launchers if they planned to go against BuCUEs. Half the conditions are fulfilled'

'Enemy units is yet to be confirmed but if I'm seeing right then length of the battle will depend of the amount of enemy units...'

'Radio... Good, it's still working. It was using old radio waves so it was still working through the interference of the N-Jammer. Now...'

Sounds of radio was heard from the radio unit in the jeep Cagalli, Ahmed, and Kisaka is riding on

"This is headquarters! please answer!"

"Cagalli here! who is this?" She answers quickly as she was focusing her eyes to find enemy units.

"Have you caught up with enemy units yet?"

"Not yet! We should meet them soon. Don't worry! We'll take care of them!" Cagalli answered.

"Do you want to win?"

"Huh? What are you talking about? Who are you? I've never heard your voice before! what are you doing in our base!?" She asked heatedly.

"I'll ask again. Do you want to win against the one who attacked your home?"

"Of course I do!" Cagalli replied.

"Then listen to me and I'll bring you to victory." The mysterious voice said confidently.

"..." Cagalli paused as even though she had chased after enemy units, she realized that going against mobile suits without initial preparation is suicide.

"Good. Tell all the other units to go to these coordinates then turn off all your engines... After that, tell me all the list of man-powers and weapons available in your possession."

Cagalli while confused decided to follow the instruction of the mysterious voice that gave her weird feelings that made her want to trust the owner of the voice and passed on the instructions to the other units. As Cagalli is a trusted member of the rebels, the leader decided to follow the instruction thinking it was Cagalli's idea all along.

'All conditions have been fulfilled... Now to see how the enemy will react to the trap I have laid...', Lelouch thought to himself while he was marking the position on the map spread on the table in front of him and visualizing the battlefield in his mind.

"The enemy should pass by in front of P-3 soon. From your position you should see when the enemy mobile suits appears seconds before they appears. I can't see directly so I'll have to ask you to pass on the information to me verbally. Tell me how many enemy units are there."

"Enemy incoming from 11 o'clock! There's 5 BuCUEs and 3 jeeps in front of them." Cagalli shouts while amazed that the enemy units was really passing through the natural rock formations.

'Not a lot... they must have thought that the rebels couldn't do anything to retaliate effectively to their mobile suits... then I'll have to take down their confidence a peg or two.' Lelouch curled his lips grimly.

"Order P3 to open fire toward the wings on the rear units then retreat! After that tell P2 to turn on their engine, activate the explosives at the base of the rocks they're hiding behind and move to point B3" Lelouch quickly commanded as he had familiarized himself to all ZAFT's mobile suit types and have analyzed the possible weakness he could exploit during his time in Heliopolis.

Two BuCUEs with disabled wings and thrusters were left behind as the rest of the BuCUEs and jeeps with full manouveribility dashed to evade the rocks falling on them.

Cagalli quickly updates Lelouch on what is happening in the battlefield.

"Now tell P4 to start shooting directly in front of them."

Cagalli, Ahmed and Kisaka was treated with a sight where the occupants of the jeeps were shot and the jeeps veering wildly toward the sand dunes after they passed the instruction to P4.

"Two of the jeeps and BuCUEs were disabled." Cagalli told the owner of the mysterious voice in the radio.

'Two? Hmm... I guess it can't all go according to my plan huh.' "Now launch the grenades at the sand dunes that I've told you before."

"Right!" Kisaka and Ahmed quickly did what they're instructed to do.

The sand explodes and caused the rest of the BaQUEs to be confused within the dust cloud.

"Now the finale... tell the rest of the units to shoot the rest of their grenade-launchers at the sands at point B5. They should have a clear shot from their current position."

"..." No sound was heard through the radio for a minute.

"Report!"

"Enemy units... eliminated... the rest of the BuCUEs were trapped in the sand, one of the Jeeps were able to escape..." Cagalli asked breathless seeing the result of the short battle that completely tilted to their favour.

"I see... capture the pilots of the BuCUEs if you want to get information from them. Their units are also only disabled so if there's someone that could use the mobile suits, take the BuCUEs back to your base. Return safely... farewell."

"WAIT! Who are you! Why did you help us!"

"Zero..."

Sound of radio contact ended

--

"Wha? Cagalli cursed as the radio contact from their base ended abruptly.

"Zero..." Kisaka murmured.

"Zero?" Ahmed turned his head to look at the person that looked like he had just saw a ghost.

"Kisaka! Do you know who Zero is?" Cagalli asked the man excitedly.

"N-no it can't be the same one..." Kisaka murmured again.

"What are you talking about?! Tell me!" Cagally impatiently asked her unofficial bodyguard.

"I was just reminded of an old legend that has been passed on from the time of the founding the nation of ORB." Kisaka finally answered. Then he continued, "A long time ago, when one empires who conquers many nation existed, one masked man had appeared and started a revolution to free the oppressed nations... He called himself Zero, the one who told that those with powers to fear him and those without powers to seek him... his story was often told during bed-times a long time ago as he was a legend that caused peace between nations for hundreds of years because many feared he will appear again. ORB is said to be founded based on his values as Zero hates discrimination with passion and protected the weak..."

"Really? if it had been that long ago then the real Zero had surely already became a decrepit old man and died long time ago!" Cagally added.

Somewhere within Archangel sneezing sound echoed across the hallways.

"Then who had just helped us? Zero's ghost?" Ahmed asked.

Kisaka then answered dubiously, "Perhaps he is just someone who had heard of the Legend of Zero Revolution?"

"That doesn't explain how he was able to give us orders as is he was here himself when he was clearly using the radio in our base. We'll just find out from the guards, they should see if someone were snooping around our HQ."

Right after they finished their conversation, Kira arrived in his Strike Gundam confused and amazed as he looked around and found the mobile suits were already subdued as they were buried halfway under rocks and sands. They were forced to shoot down the pilots as the pilots attacked them when they opened the cockpits and towed the BuCUEs to their base with Strike's help to release the wolf shaped mobile suits from the traps.

--

Andrew Waltfelt the Desert Tiger was forced to flee after losing all his units and returned to his base after the injury he received during the surprise attack when the path Dacosta took to evade the rock-slides were raining bullets. It was only his quick reaction that had saved him and his subordinates on the vehicle from being slaughtered. He never imagined that the rebels could reply to his attack that viciously without him being able to do a single thing... everything happened within an instant and he was not able to send commands to his subordinates before they were trapped. It was as if every possible reaction that he could do was read well ahead of time and considering they are trained Coordinators, that had been a truly extraordinary feat. That was all his last line of thought before he lost his consciousness from losing too much blood.

--

**End of Chapter 04**

--

Author's Rant: Phew! Writing even a short battle scene is quite confusing and even then I don't think I made the battle very realistic as I realized the lack of modern equipments in the rebel base. They had a laptop there so assuming that there's satellite shot from space from the net, Lelouch could visualize the battlefield after he synchronize what he sees from the photo shot with what Cagalli sees from her position. Hope you guys like how Lelouch helped the Rebels. Please tell me on your opinion on how I write the battle as it was my first try writing one. Anyway, if you think the battle was too one sided, the rebels were going against 5 low on ammo BaQUEs and 3 Jeeps. It's no match at all in the right condition. +Checked and changed BaQUE to BuCUE (Thx Ominae)

Ominae : There's possibilities there so there's chance that I'll continue on developing their relationships.

MysticMaiden 18 : Glad you like how I coax Lulu. Well... you can see in this chapter that I've given a brief appearance for him. However he won't show up in the open or big fights yet.

No Name 01 : Hope you'll add a name for me to address in this if you have suggestions as I couldn't give any credits for you if you have good ideas. Anyway, I've considered it and if I could make a believable return of some from the CG cast, then I'll think about it.

LittleNK : You continue to read my thoughts. Lelouch is a decent chef in R2 and I used his talent here. His Lelouch persona is also usable for him to gain information from the talks in the cafeteria. We'll see how it develops after that.

RVD : I won't say that Kira is his best friend yet but he is a somewhat friend who gave advice when Kira was in doubt.

No Name 02 : Oh don't worry. Zero will make an appearance but there will have to be a suitable stage for that. As for the present, your funny feeling have guessed some of what I've planned.

GenMcvile : I admit that I didn't expand some of the significant events in the beginning of the stories. However it's going to slow down when I've reached the time where Lelouch will get in on the actions. I'll try to pace down and expand more.

Thx again to all the readers and reviewers who spent some of their time on this fic.


	6. Chapter 05

**Code Geass: A New Beginning, A New Battlefield**

--

**Chapter 05 : Going Through Motions**

--

Lelouch was walking along the hallways as he mused silently of the event where he had accidentally slipped Zero's name after he helped the rebels two days ago. On his way during his random walk he saw Kira standing alone looking blankly through the viewing glass. He observed the boy who had just months ago was just an ordinary student and now a pilot extraordinaire fighting for to protect his friends every-time he was sortied. Lelouch wondered for a second before he approached Kira who had just seemed content to ignore his presence.

"How do we decide a winner...? How do we end a war...? By... eliminating all opposition?" Kira murmured to himself softly when Lelouch walked and stood beside him on the viewing deck.

"That's a strange question Kira... Where did that came from?" Lelouch enquired curiously.

"Tiger of the Desert... Andrew Waltfelt..." Kira answered softly having just realized that he had company with him.

"You've met that man? He must be an interesting person if he asked that question..." Lelouch probed.

Kira not understanding why Lelouch said that voiced his thought, "What do you mean by that?" he asked.

Lelouch shook his head, "There's no true winner in a war Kira... The winners always lose something even though they sometimes didn't realize it... the worst thing that could happen is to lost your true purpose in going to war in order to achieve victory... in the end... winning a war is not everything... you've come this far through your will to protect your friends... don't lose track of what is important Kira..." Lelouch said.

"Lelouch... How...?" Kira said as he could not understanding how such a light hearted young cook that he met everyday not even seemingly had ever fight could came to that conclusion.

"Inabilities to accept difference led to war... however... those who instigate those wars are the ones need to be stopped. Yet... it's temporary measure at best. Time... understanding... and acceptance..." Lelouch whispered the last part and turned his head to look at Kira, "Heh... how are you doing nowadays Kira, you haven't been coming to cafeteria for a while now and I've heard rumors that you have been sleeping in your mobile suit." He said.

Kira looked away as it was true that he had been sleeping in his cockpit for a few days now, "Yeah, it's true... I only wanted to protect everyone better... If I wait in my cockpit, then I could react immediately if enemy forces come to attack us." He answered softly.

Lelouch paused trying to think of a proper response to the confused young man, then he spoke "You can sleep there all you want but if your back ached when you had to pilot your mobile suit then you can only blame yourself." He joked. "Seriously though, don't forget that in war you don't fight by yourself. Your friends are here on this Archangel and Lieutenants Flaga is there to fight too. He is also quite dependable in a pinch. I'm sure he will say the same thing to you." Lelouch added.

"Thank you Lelouch..." Kira replied at his sometimes counsellor.

"Don't worry about it. By the way, when did you met Andrew Waltfelt? He is not someone that you could just talk to on the street isn't he?" Lelouch asked curiously wanting to know more of the first person impression of the famous 'Tiger of the Desert'. After all, he had fought the man indirectly even though it was brief.

"I met him when I was in the city as a bodyguard for Cagalli. Blue Cosmos attacked him when we're having lunch and he took us to his base to apologize for making Cagalli messed up with chili sauce and to thank us for my help in saving him. It was strange that he was already injured though." Kira told Lelouch the short version of his misadventure in the city with Cagalli.

"I see... If he asked you that question then he probably realized that you're his enemy but decided to have a conversation with you anyway didn't he?" Lelouch deducted. 'If he was injured it's possible that he was with the ambushed troops then... in the escaped jeep? Well... at least it'll be a lesson for him for underestimating the rebels...' He thought to himself.

"Wha? How did?" Kira flabbergasted queried, surprised at the accurate guess from the eye-patched man.

"Seeing that you're here now also shows that he is a person who held honor highly as he let you go when you're cornered and chose to fight you head-on in the battlefield..." 'I can respect his wish to fight but letting enemy go when he had his hand on them... he also didn't kill any of the civilians that night... heh... Tohdoh would be glad to meet someone like him if he is still alive. Perhaps it was a good thing that he had survived the ambush I arranged.' Lelouch thought.

"Andrew Waltfelt really is an interesting person isn't he? But... don't forget that he is still your enemy Kira... The best thing you could do for him is to give your best effort to defeat him as he won't have mercy when he met you on the battlefield." Lelouch finished and left Kira standing alone looking at the endless desert.

--

The Desert Dawn were in high spirit as they had gained an overwhelming victory in their last operation against ZAFT. However their misterious helper was never found as the guards who were guarding their base that night didn't know of anyone that had came through to use their equipments. There's also no trace of any intruders that could be found and without any lead, soon they had to give up on finding their mysterious helper. However, because of that one action, a small deed that rippled unexpectedly , an old legend were whispered once again...

Meanwhile, the Archangel had successfully routed ZAFT's mobile base led by a weakened Andrew Waltfelt who was defeated by Kira with some assistance from the rebels. They went on their way through Red Sea with two additional passengers, Cagalli and Kisaka. As Archangel travels through the sea, they were attacked several times by ZAFT's troops stationed on the submarine patrolling the area. However with Kira in his Strike Gundam and Mu la Flaga in his Skygrasper protecting the ship, they were able to repel their foes. On their journey...

--

"It has been a while isn't it." Lelouch said as he entered the brown haired captain's room.

"True... how are you doing Lelouch..." Murrue replied still facing down on her desk.

Lelouch leans his back to a wall and "Fine. You're looks exhausted there. Are you alright?" Lelouch said a little concerned seeing her slumped tiredly on her desk.

Murrue lifted her head to look at the one-eyed young man and spoke, "It has been a very busy day... Cagalli was missing in action and Kira is still out looking for her. It has been several hours since I last got an update of the situation..."

"I've heard. But it won't be good for the morale if the captain is worn down too right? Here, some of my original mix." Lelouch said as he took out a liquid container he had been carrying and passed it to the tired woman.

Murrue took the container and look at the purple eyed man. "Your original mix?" She asked curiously.

"Try it, I created it a long time ago and I couldn't make the same exact thing with available ingredients on this ship but it's still quite good." Lelouch replied.

She opened the container and sipped the cold liquid. "A little spicy... and... what did you mix to make this? I'm feeling more relaxed."

"Sorry, it's a trade secret. But I can say that I used a small amount of alcohol there. Just warning you so what happened last time you're drunk wont happen again." He quipped.

"You!! You better savor it because that won't happen again if I have any say about it!" She retorted at the audacious black-haired man. "By the way... I've been thinking of this for a while." She said trying to steer their conversation to a slightly saver ground.

"Of?" Lelouch raised his right eye-brow curious of the sudden change in her demeanor.

"Why are you wearing an eye patch?" She blurted out.

"Oh? You've been thinking why I am wearing this?" He pointed his left index finger to his patched eye, "Didn't you spend your time to think of something more productive?" He jested at her.

"I'm curious. Can you please tell me?" She asked again as she stared at Lelouch with her long-time-no-use puppy dog expression.

Lelouch tilted his head as he analyzed the pro and cons of showing her his left eye as it would probably raise unwanted questions from the brown eyed captain while musing the ridiculousness of a mature woman trying to use 'that' expression on him. Decided that it doesn't really matter as she wouldn't know the significance of his left eye and knowing that he had already used his geass once on her, he raised his left hand and slowly took off his eye-patch.

"Your eye... it's very beautiful... why did you hide it if there was nothing wrong with it?" Murrue said as she was mesmerized of the unique purple shade of Lelouch's permanently changed left eye. Now that she could see the whole of the fair skinned man's face she also came to a realization. When Lelouch covered his left eye with his eye patch, he looks a bit rugged and somewhat attractive but now that he is not wearing it, he looks downright sexy and now... she was almost overwhelmed by a sudden urge to bite him... again.

"You're starting to droll." Lelouch deadpanned at the half-drunk woman. "You're sleepy or something? I can leave if you're that tired Murrue." He offered her as he was really starting to get nervous from the unidentifiable stare he was getting from the woman.

"N-no! I'm alright. I'm just a little relaxed because of the effects of your drink." She replied hastily.

Lelouch stared suspiciously at the woman and after a brief pause he finally spoke, "If you say so. I didn't know that my special drink had that much of an effect. I should lessen the amount of alcohol I used next time I make one."

Murrue only nodded as response to what Lelouch said as she continued staring at the sexy man still leaning on the wall looking at her. Her brain were starting to move towards unwanted direction and 18+ rated images were flashing down her thoughts. 'He looks like a model posing in a magazine... droll...'

"Murrue? You there? You're starting to zone out. Are you sure you're fine?" Lelouch said softly with his face seemingly only inches from hers while putting his right palm on her forehead.

She was shaken from her thoughts as when she suddenly realized that the face that secretly started to invade her dreams were so close to her face. 'Just a little bit more...' Murrue thought as she licked her lips while unconsciously inching closer towards Lelouch.

Lelouch could not react properly as his usually quick-witted mind grind to a halt from the sudden advance of the desperate female. After what seemingly like hours when his lungs decided that he couldn't endure more with the lack of air within it, Murrue loosened her kiss for a moment. However as Lelouch relaxed his muscles when he was able to inhale the much needed oxygen, Murrue suddenly slipped her tongue through his lips and she pulled Lelouch from where he was standing on and pushed him to the top of her desk as she coaxed him with her tongue. 'OMG! I swear I didn't know she couldn't hold her liquor. If I knew I wouldn't give her any alcohol', Lelouch cursed dazedly in his mind.

While his brain had just finished rebooting from the surprise, Murrue had started to unbutton his shirt with her right hand while her left hand was holding him down as she licked areas around his right shoulder. That was the scene Mu La Flaga saw as his mind crashed looking at a sight that he couldn't comprehend while his brain tried to interpret what was happening in front of him.

Several minutes passed as all the occupants within the room ceased to act where Lelouch was staring wide-eyed through the corner of his eyes at the blonde pilot, Murrue was still hazed with lust but slowly regains her focus as adrenaline starts to flow through her vein from the unexpected surprise and Mu standing right in front of the entrance gaping at them. The ace pilot finally regained his nerve first as he quickly spoke, "Did I came at a wrong time?". His mind still dumbfounded as the Captain of Archangel is holding the one he recognized as Lelouch, the chef he sometimes talked to at the cafeteria down on her desk.

"I think I'll come back later! Sorry for disturbing you two but please continue on after I left.", The pilot grinned widely and quickly rushed off leaving Lelouch and Murrue who were still bewildered on their previous spot. "Big Scoop!! Murdock! Wait till you hear about this! Wait a minute! I have also won our private bet! Bwahahahahaha!" The excited Skygrasper pilot cackled as he rushed off toward the hangar.

Lelouch who finally regained his wits slowly spoke, "Mind getting off me Murrue? Or you still haven't got enough of me yet?" 'Before you bite me again?' He let it left unsaid not wanting her to get any ideas.

The brown-haired captain who had just realized what she has been doing quickly sprung off from her previous position with the aid of her sudden rush of adrenaline surge. "I-I-I..." She stuttered.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." Lelouch smirked trying to hide his nervousness of the woman who had almost raped him again. "Though unfortunately this time we had an eye-witness and I don't think he will stop blabbing about this to the other crews." His smirk widened as he could see the humor of their quaint experience though he would still prefer that he will not be at the butt of the jokes.

Murrue herself was speechless as she had just began to comprehend the complication of what had just happened in her room through her still hazy mind.

Lelouch chuckled and bade her farewell not wanting to be there when the brown-haired captain sobered and fully realized the situation she will be in after this 'small' incident. He doesn't care too much about his own reputation but as she is the captain... maybe... he should further ignite the situation to annoy her? After all he was the victim here. He mulled in his mind.

'Should I geass Mu to make him forget about everything he just saw... no that won't work... he had rushed off and if I know him, he is already blabbing to the technicians in the hangar. Perhaps I'll let it go on for a while as a lesson to Murrue. And to myself... note to self, don't give any beverage containing alcohol to Murrue again. Once is more enough. I swear I could still feel the phantom pain of those bites.' Lelouch mused while his right hand unconsciously rubbed his left shoulder.

--

**End of Chapter 05**

--

Author's Rant: Lousy title I know. Nothing really special happens but it just came out as I was seeking inspirations. Please tell me if there's mistakes and ways to improve my writing. Constructive criticism are appreciated. Enjoy, especially those LelouchxMurrue fans out there. +Made some small changes. Hope it came out better.

GenMcvile : Glad you approved.

Tpolich : Thx for the praise.

Ominae : Thx for telling me my misspelling last chapter.

RainbowHeart : lol.

Chaos Angel of Change : Nice to meet you. It's a regret at this point Waltfelt was supposedly already KIA by Kira. Perhaps later on when he show up again.

Anonymous : Maybe...

LittleNK : To answer your curiosity, I intended for him to accidentally blurted out without thinking. Lelouch's true motivation will be unveiled during later chapters.

RVD : Oh, I have plan for ORB. Wait till the story reach that point. lol

MysticMaiden 18 : Thx. I've prepared something for that. Till then you'll have to wait to find out what I planned. lol

Shadow Zeranion : About that, I'm already thinking about it. There's potential there.

Dodingdaga : Natural, there's no Coordinators when Lulu was born and I thought that there's too many Coordinator main chars anyway.

WyldStallyns808 : For now... as it's hard for me to arrange their meeting and make it believable on the tight time schedule in between events.

Yasanagi : Thx for telling me. I appreciate your idea for prologue. In this fic I've made Lelouch only stayed living because of his last promise to Nunnaly which I mentioned in Chapter 04. That's if you're still reading till that part. Thx anyway Yasanagi.

Thx to all the readers and reviewers who spent some of their time on this fic.


	7. Chapter 06

**Code Geass: A New Beginning, A New Battlefield**

--

**Chapter 06 : Weary Days**

--

Today Lelouch decided to brood. A strange decision he knew... but what else could he do when every-time he passed through someone when they were talking in the hallway, they paused to stare at him and hushed to each other. When he walked through the cafeteria on his way to the kitchen, all of those who seconds ago were sitting there eating paused. Then the males chuckled and give him a thumb or slapped his back while the females giggled and gave him a once over.

He continued his brood. He had worn his somewhat dorky and unfashionable eye-patch because he didn't want to attract unwanted attention from the fairer gender. But as the females decided that if their kind and beautiful 'captain', highest ranked female on the ship had forced herself on him, then surely Lelouch is a prime catch. Now that the females had given him another look, most of the single females tried to follow him around as Lelouch was quickly raised in their unofficial rating of the most wanted male on Archangel surpassing Lieutenant Flaga and Kira Yamato (Though Kira is off limits because he was already claimed by Flay) in popularity.

He thought that he had left this part of his life behind after he decided to sleep peacefully in with the aid of his cyrogenic capsule. Shaking his head slowly, he was almost tempted to just geass all of them and get it over with but he don't want to use his precious geass on an idiotic task such as that. At least Murrue fared no better than him as she had to endure the whistles from the more experienced bridge crews and hushed whispers from the newer recruits when she was on duty. He tried to visit the bridge just once wanting to provoke reaction from the bridge crews yesterday and it proved to be very fruitful. Too successful in fact as what he did that morning actually confirmed what the blond ace pilot, Mu said when he spread the rumors. He could imagine the desperate captain's eyebrows and cheeks were twitching as she tried to restrain herself from strangling the rest of the crews. At least that gave him a good laugh. He actually laughed out loud for a while after that. He was lucky that nobody was around or he can say good-bye to what was left of his carefully constructed image that he tried to portray.

Now that he had enough brooding, he decided to sulk. Not that it helps... but really! he honestly thought that his newly acquired female admirers were going to think that he is not easily approachable or something. Even his prized tactical mind couldn't predict that the females were fans of those angsty male type. He loathed when he tried to act that way for a while till his facial muscles were twitching but luckily when he was almost snapped, most of his female admirers had to return to their duty. He don't want to find out what kind of impulsive command he will dish out with his geass if that actually happened. Lelouch then used his imagination to conceive the image of having those girls to be punished with his geass. 'BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!' ...After a short moment where insanity reigns, he returned and tried to think of something more productive, such as new ways to throw off his pursuers or find a new place on the ship to hide effectively.

Perhaps what truly made the situation worse was the time when he thought that he was having a private conversation to Cagalli after her safe return from the deserted island.

--

"I'm glad to see you're all right. Everyone has been worried ever since you were almost declared MIA yesterday." Lelouch said as he saw Cagalli walked through the cafeteria entrance. Exhausted after running around but glad that his admirers were now busy with their duties.

"Thank you... err... sorry but what is your name? I don't think I've ever met you. Though your voice is kind of familiar..." Cagalli replied to the eye-patched chef while she tried to recall where she had heard the voice before.

Lelouch sweat-dropped knowing where she had heard his voice but quickly steeled his nerve and replied, "Must have been your imagination. This is the first time we're conversing after all. My name is Lelouch Lamperouge. At your service." he smiled politely half bowing to the blond girl then resumed his casual pose.

"So, I heard that your Sky Grasper was damaged, where did you get to when you were down? I thought that there's only sea around the area." He asked curiously as he thought it would take longer to find her if she were floating on the sea in her Sky Grasper.

Back in her element, Cagalli quickly told him the story of how she fell on a deserted island and were able to rest through the night with her survival skills. However Lelouch quickly detected some gaping holes in her story when he tried to verify some part of her stories. A skill he had mastered during his time as Zero when he often had to pry untold information from his subordinates and his foes without his geass. Not wanting to push her if she didn't want to tell him, he decided to let the matter rest. Thinking that it was not as if something really important happened there on that island. Guessing that letting her keep her little secrets were fine with him as long it was not life-threatening.

"Hey Lelouch, mind if I ask you something?" Cagalli asked unsure but having heard Kira told her that Lelouch had often talked with him when he were in doubt, she decided could try to ask for an advice from the purple-eyed cook too. Who knows that perhaps the black haired cook could help her understand something that had been bothering her.

Lelouch reflexively flashed his lady killer smile and replied in a confident tone, "Of course. I can't forgive myself if I refused a request from a lady." Somewhere in Archangel several females swooned and felt their knees reduced to the consistencies of a cooked noddle. Back to serious mode he spoke, "Mind telling me what you want to ask Cagalli?" He said while his eye tried to read her body language and analyzing what he saw in his mind.

After mulling nervously for a while to think of an appropriate way to word her question she started to speak, "Do you think... we have a right to wage war against PLANT... even after what Earth did to Junius Seven...?" she asked uncertainly as recalled her chance meeting with Athrun.

He paused and tried to see where the blond girl was trying to go with the loaded question and he decided to tell her his own opinion. "Both Earth and Plant have a right to be angry after all that happened. However it was started because of some idiot on Earth decided to launch nuke on Junius Seven. Not that it could be any different on the way it goes though as the tension was already there. It was only a matter of something that one side thought the other offends them and they will retaliate against the offenders." Lelouch said neutrally.

"What they forgot is that not everyone wants war and just wanted to be left alone... The military often forget that and involves those innocents and continues to escalate the war. If they want revenge then take out the masterminds behind the deeds... and... I'm sorry, I'm getting out of topic didn't I?" He said to the confounded girl.

"N-n-no it's alright! I just thought..." She said still speechless listening to the eye-patched man who sounds like he really understand the feeling of those not wanting to be involved in the war between EA and ZAFT.

"Anyway, to answer your question, I'd say that both side felt they have a right as PLANT wanted blood after Junius Seven and while Earth people only wanted to defend themselves. ZAFT did send those Neutron Jammers that caused massive energy crisis then invaded Earth and killed a lot of innocents too. But... nobody truly wants war... that is my answer... there is no war that is right Cagalli... no matter how you justify it... that is why those who wage war, those who have power would have to understand and responsible to bear the sins by protecting those who can't protect themselves..." He said gravely, still feeling the pain of his soul being torn apart by countless unforgivable acts he had committed in the past in order to protect his loved ones...

"I-I... t-thank you for honestly telling me what you thought Lelouch..." Cagalli finally replied after she came out of her thoughts, still feeling as though Lelouch's voice continued to reverberate in her soul... Making her felt that she want to trust her life and belief to that someone who's voice sounded like he had went through the hell and back and yet... still came through the unimaginable experience in one piece. 'It's a little strange though... what he said sounded like it contained ideals similar to Orb's motto yet it's also carried totally different intentions as she could feel that it also hid multitudes of depth within it...' She thought as she couldn't understand what she is trying to decipher herself.

'Oops... it seems like I was getting a little emotional there making my voice lower like I usually did in my Zero tone during one of my speech' Lelouch sweat-dropped as he returns to his normal mental state. "I hope that answered your question Cagalli..." Thinking for a moment he added, "Cagalli, remember that each person held their own values and each held their own definition of 'Right' and 'Wrong'. However that was the answer I found and one day when you found yours, I sincerely hope it'll be similar to mine." Lelouch smiled sincerely as he look into her eyes as he spoke. Then he raised his head to look at the digital clock above the entrance to cafeteria and said, "I'm sorry, but I think it's time for me to return to the kitchen." Lelouch said ending his conversation with the blond haired girl.

--

After that conversation that he didn't really deem as important in his mind, where Lelouch thought that his 'private conversation' to Cagalli was just telling someone of his personal opinion of the war. He soon forget about the whole matter and went on his life as usual.

It was all started by one female admirer that always brought her digital music player with her. She sacrificed her maxed memory card full of her favourite songs to record Lelouch's conversation with Cagalli. Then the unnamed female admirer copied and uploaded the 'edited conversation' to her attachment in her post at Archangel's BBS. Then, a female who opened to the content of the attachment that was complete with the tone Lelouch used as he speak in his Zero tone, swiftly decided that everyone on Archangel needed to listen to it too, she told her friends to check out the BBS post and things rapidly snowballed after that.

Never realizing what was happening behind his back as the rest of the crews decided to keep the secret from him, Lelouch was confused when he often sneezed thinking he was coming down with flu and by then most of the female population on board of Archangel continues to stole peeks at him with what he dubbed as 'that look' he couldn't identify and decided leave it at that. The males were also starting to stare at him with what he thought new-found respect although he could not understand where the respect was coming from. He could swear that he had received similar expressions from his subordinates during his time as the leader of the 'Order of Black Knights'.

Lelouch would never realize that small event is the catalyst that someday would change the hearts of the Archangel crews. For now though... he would prefer if he could find out what was wrong with the rest of his fellow crews and to quickly heal from his influenza. He couldn't work in the cafeteria if his flu could spread through his cooking after all.

--

Meanwhile, as Lelouch was down in the infirmary trying to quickly heal from what he thought was flu, Archangel was entering a battle with a squad of ZAFT pursuers using the four units stolen during the incident in Heliopolis. After the short and desperate battle where Archangel suffered massive damage and her defenders was cornered, he saw the arrival of Orb fleet that were sending warning shots to both sides through the monitor provided in the infirmary . What happened after that was unexpected as Cagalli told Orb fleet through the radio contact that her name is Cagalli Yula Athha. The events that followed was also quite interesting as Orb fleets attacked with what seemingly random shots at Archangel while they're actually herding Archangel into Orb territory. He suppose he should be glad as should they were not saved then, they all could already be fish food in the sea by now. As for the present, Lelouch decides that a short nap is in order.

--

**End of Chapter 06**

--

Author's Rants: Hmm... A short chapter that I dedicated start a relation between Lelouch and Cagalli. I wrote this chapter based on assumption that there were other female crews on Archangel besides those shown on the original anime. Enjoy. Some of the events are inspired courtesy of some R2 episodes.

LittleNK : I'll see what I can do about that. As you can see I'm developing some possibilities with Cagalli. I've mentioned it before in this fic I made that Lelouch's geass is already too powerful to be contained with only his contact lens, thus his 'dorky' eye-patch. lol

Ominae : XD

DarknessWorld : Perhaps...

GenMcvile : I'll try. :)

MysticMaiden 18 : lol

X6shinX : Thx for the praise. Anyway it'll go deeper soon. lol

ShadowLucas15 : Thx, anyway the answer is nope.

WyldStallyns808 : Glad I got the image right. I don't think they'll just start to blab about that out of the blue but... As for Natarle, I have a plan for her... I'll consider your idea. Thx.

Cavalyn : I don't think I'm good at writing romance but glad that someone liked it. lol

ZeroX1999 : Aha, then perhaps you'll enjoy this chapter.

Thx to all the readers and reviewers who spent some of their time on this fic. Sorry if the response of those reviews were short but I tried to keep non-story related word count down. Thx for your understanding. lol


	8. Chapter 07

**Code Geass: A New Beginning, A New Battlefield**

--

**Chapter 07 : Nation of Peace**

--

The Archangel and her crews were saved from a pinch when Orb Union decided to lend them a hand and secretly hid the mobile fortress in their country. Currently Archangel was docked within a large hangar owned by Morgenroete, Inc. There, the mobile fortress is undergoing repair due to accumulated damage during their journey and still needed to resupply for materials which in total will took approximately a week before the process could be finished.

Meanwhile, Lelouch who was now feeling better after his nap in the infirmary decided to ask for permission from the Captain to go to the city. He realized that as he has yet to see what other things had changed after his long absence from Earth and he also wanted to find more information of the world that he couldn't get from Archangel's database. As most of the data available within Archangel were related to military battle data while Heliopolis itself only featured outdated news and brief history of the countries that currently existed. What he wanted to gain is an accurate information of what was going on around the world. Hoping that he could find what he was seeking in the Orb Union's Capital City, he went on his way to the Bridge.

--

Not that Murrue could refuse him when she knew that Lelouch could make her life much more difficult as he had done quite a few times in the past. Lelouch saw her face flushed as he approached the brown haired captain. Ignoring her strange behavior, he gave her a short explanation and told her that he was going to take a leave for a few days. With the knowledge that he had Murrue dancing on his palm, figuratively of course, he easily acquired permission from her and but met unexpected resistance from her second-in-command, Ensign Natarle Badgiruel, which resulted in a small argument between the two female. As he did not want to complicate the situation, Lelouch took the matter into his own hand and decided to speak with the black haired female to find out her reason for resisting.

"Can I ask you why you're complaining if I'm taking a leave Natarle?" Lelouch asked calmly yet inwardly he was curious at the black haired woman who often kept to herself when she was off-duty. He addressed her with her given name as he already knew her quite well. She often ate by herself since all the other crews were not very comfortable to speak with her when she was off-duty knowing how assertive she was. It was very fortunate that he somehow found out something about her during the time Archangel was on the way to the now destroyed Artemis.

/Flashback/

It was a strange event when he saw a drop of tear flowed down through her cheek as the fork she was holding slipped from her grip. When Lelouch walked closer fearing that somehow he had mixed a bad ingredient when he made some of his original recipe, the black haired supervisor of Archangel's CIC blinked.

"Are you all right miss? Is there something wrong with the food?" Lelouch asked worried for the woman if he had somehow added something expired into his carefully prepared food.

Natarle blinked again, now her whole body were also quivering.

"Miss? Miss? ...Miss?" Lelouch repeated several times before he finally decided to shook her shoulder to rouse the woman from whatever she was doing. 'Uh oh! Don't tell me that this is this a case of food poisoning!'

Slowly coming back from her brief orgasmic bliss, the black haired woman sluggishly focused her eyes to look at the person who was shaking her. 'Huh? What the? what am I doing here?' She thought to herself, then seeing the tray still filled with food in front of her she finally recalled what she was doing before she briefly lost in her daze.

"Miss? are you alright there?" He asked again concernedly to the black haired woman.

Natarle hastily replied, "I'm fine! You're one of the chef here right? Mind if I ask who made this food that I'm eating right now?" She asked to the eye-patched chef.

Lelouch who was glad that she was alright then relaxed and answered, "Good, yes I am one of the chef and I'm the one who made the food you're eating right now. I'm sorry if there's something wrong with it." He smiled regretfully and half bowed hoping that she'll forgive him if there was something wrong with what he cooked.

"N-No!! There's NOTHING wrong with it! I'm sorry if I offended you for asking." She quickly replied to the eye-patched chef not wanting to offend the younger man.

"I see... then I'll leave you to continue with your dinner miss?" he asked cautiously.

"Natarle! Ensign Natarle Badgiruel", She half-shouted as she introduced herself. "And you are?" She queried wanting to know more of the one who had cooked food so delicious that made her forgot herself in daze.

Lelouch smiled politely at her and replied, "Lelouch Lamperouge, at your service."

"Lelouch..." Natarle whispered as she rolled his name in her tongue. Then she focused her eyes at him, "I'll be looking forward to eat your cooking for my 'every' meal Lelouch." She said as she gave him one of her rare smile.

'Oh? this is new. I never thought my cooking was good enough that I'll have someone looking forward to eat them.' He thought silently while trying to think of a way to bring this to his advantage. Perhaps... "Then I'll be looking forward when you came for a meal Natarle." Lelouch replied as he flashed her a wide grin realizing that he could use this as a way to get to know more about the militant woman.

She nodded and pretended to continue to eat her meal. She released the breath she was holding and she thought to herself, 'Phew... I'm glad he didn't find out...'

'What was that smell? It was kind of familiar but I couldn't place where I've smelt it' Lelouch who left Natarle to continue her dinner pondered.

/End Flashback/

Natarle who was not looking forward to eat bland cooking of prepared by other chefs in the cafeteria after she was used to being pampered with the delicious freshly cooked meal prepared by the eye-patched chef tried to stop the cook from taking a leave. "Err... you're in the military! Without a permission from Alaska you're not allowed take a leave!" She quickly answered knowing that as the eye-patched cook is part of the military then he also had to follow the same protocols as she was.

"Actually... though I'm part of the military, as a chef I'm also allowed to take a short-leave during resupply so I could to find some ingredients that are quite rare and harder to acquire Natarle." Lelouch said confidently as though he didn't really remember the content of his contract as there were none but decided to make it up as it goes. It's not like she was going to check his contract and he could just say that his copy was destroyed along with the destruction of Heliopolis.

"Huh? I didn't know they allowed that in the contract?" Natarle said confused, she was sure that she would know that as she had studied all military laws zealously during her time as students.

Lelouch then smiled reassuringly as he knew that the black haired woman was also unsure of herself at that moment. "I'm sure it was added just recently." Then he continued, "Anyway I'll be leaving soon, don't worry as I won't be leaving that long" Lelouch said. 'I'm not sure how long though...'

The supervisor of Archangel's CIC was wavering as her usually sharp mind was confused and desperate to find another reason to prevent the cook from taking his leave.

'Check' Lelouch chuckled in his mind as he look at her expression. 'Now for the kill...'

"Don't worry... I'm sure I can prepare a special meal for you with the ingredients I'm going to acquire once I return Natarle", he whispered to her ear softly. 'Checkmate' He then grinned widely when he saw her body language slacked along with all sign of resistance from the closet gourmet.

Natarle was already hesitating at that point but when she heard of his whisper, she stopped listening when she reached the 'a special meal for you' part and decided 'what are few days of suffering from eating the bland cooking' compared to the 'specially prepared meal for her'.

'Hmm... never knew she was that desperate to eat his cooking. If he knew from the start then he would never waste his time to reason and went for the kill. Eh, it was not like he was omnipotent after all.' Lelouch thought and he quickly return to his room to find his pack.

--

Before he left, Lelouch had overheard when Murrue and Natarle was talking that Kira was asked by Morgenroete, Inc to help them do something while Archangel is still being repaired. Curious of what was going on in Morgenroete as he recognized the name as the collaborator in the creation of G-Weapons and Archangel, he decided that a little bit of snooping is in order.

What he already knew of Morgenroete, Inc is the fact that they are a semi-nationalized military contractor based in Orb Union. Aside from that and their involvement in Heliopolis, he is curious to what else the organization had been doing. That was the main reason why he is currently wearing a uniform he 'borrowed' from the one of the workers with the aid of his geass. The ID Card he got from one of the important researchers also helped him to access many restricted areas within Morgenroete Facility.

During his 'walk', he found some interesting things such as the mobile suits that Orb had been developing, M1-Astray and some of his 'interview' session also led him to a name, 'Erica Simmons'. He found out that aside being the chief designer in the Orb Union's military force and senior engineer of Morgenroete, she is also responsible to many of the most important projects that are currently still in progress.

One of the ongoing main projects also involves Kira who was currently busy developing an Interface Mobile Suit OS designed for 'Naturals'. It was strange that one teenage Coordinator could do something what many adult Coordinator couldn't do. Even though Mobile Suits were superior to average Knightmares created in his past, he still couldn't really understand why the control system they developed was much more complex. Some of his search also led to various fascinating reports that accidentally allowed him to find one of the most intriguing research.

'Superior Evolutionary Element Destined-factor... interesting title...' He thought for a second before he swiftly skimmed through the report.

'I see... A factor that determines the course of a species' evolution... Those who bear the 'SEED' were unknown in number but they are also very special... Is that the reason why Kira was able to out-fight our ZAFT pursuers even when he was out-numbered in his battles even against trained Coordinators? What kind of enchancement does this 'SEED' give to the bearers? Does this means that a small percentage of humanity as a whole could break through their imposed limit then attain 'SEED' or the phenomenon only applied to Coordinators? All of these were only theories and are yet to be proved scientifically but... this still quite interesting but without further leads...' Lelouch thought to himself.

'Erica Simmons...' He read the wooden nameplate hanging on the door. It's a little strange to see something so... 'natural' but who was he to complain?

'So this is her office...' After he briefly checked for security cameras, he entered her office using access code he acquired with his geass after his accidental meeting with the chief engineer. While he had acquired name of the most important subjects and passwords to access her files Lelouch realized that he was not gifted enough to erase trace of his usage after he accessed her computer.

'Hmm? Why do I need to worry? I'll leave false trails that will mask what I've accessed. She won't be able to find out who was the culprit and I have ensured before that I left no trace while I was infiltrating this facility' Lelouch thought to himself then tried to access what data that could be found in Erica Simmons' desktop.

'...!' After five minutes of skimming myriads of random files, he determined that it'll be impossible for him even to only skim through all the files and information inside the desktop, he decided that he would have to copy some of what he thought were important into his trusty PDA. It could handle a few gigabytes of data while he can't possibly find out that much before he was discovered by someone. It took almost an hour before he finished sorting the data into the PDA and laid false trails on the access record.

Ending his self-assigned short espionage mission after successfully finished his 'information gathering' and returned what he borrowed to his 'kind helpers', Lelouch quickly exited the facility and went on his way to the city.

--

**End of Chapter 07**

--

Author's Rant : Finally Lelouch arrived at Orb... Anyway since there's some changes to my original draft, It'll take some time till I could finish what I originally planned to add for this chapter. Till then. Btw, I'm starting to hesitate that I put my story in the right genre. Should I change it to General/Romance or Adventure/Romance? +Knightmare corrected. Thx ominae.

Cavalyn : Thx for the suggestion. I don't think I'm doing too good at romance and I personally thought some part was a bit dry myself. Glad that some of you guys enjoyed it. lol

Nim Maj : Hope that you'll continue enjoying this fic as I have fun writing it too. My grammar was quite messy wasn't it? Hope as I continue to write I'll get better. --

Elladan : Thx for the praise.

Rasgara : lol. Then enjoy this update.

ZeroX1999 : Hmm... You'll have to wait but as I've invested quite a bit to Murrue... There's a chance this fic will end up as LelouchxHarem but I'll have to see whether I have the skill to pull this off or not. Your suggestion?

MysticMaiden 18 : lol. Glad you enjoyed that. I was not really thinking of when I make the draft and it finished that way. It'll still continue slowly for a while anyway.

Ominae : That could work... hmm... I'm getting some delicious image there.

LittleNK : lol.

mm : Thx for your ideas. Some of those were similar to what I have wrote in my drafts but there's some parts that I'll integrate into my fic. I'll put a credit on those chapters if/when I use your suggestion. You've made me re-think of some points that I was confused of between divergence points and I'm working to smooth them out now as I'm trying to foresee how they could develop and the impacts of following those path in the end.

GenMcvile : Unfortunately there's still no fighting scenes for a while yet. At this point it'll be more 'Laying foundation' part. Even now Lulu still have no true reason to involve himself... but after that...

WyldStallyns808 : Some of your questions were answered in this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. As for the talks... perhaps...

Capito Celcior : Thx. Well, I tried to write within reasonable pace when I'm free so that's what I released. As for his geass...

Any constructive criticism and suggestion is appreciated. Thx again to all readers and reviewers who have spent their time on this fic.


End file.
